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Basically, I received a letter from a collection agency on a debt. I couldn't figure out what the debt was at first. They listed Bank One as the original credit company, and I've never done business with them.

I did some research and it appears this was a debt from 13 years ago, off an old store credit card(guess it was sold to Bank One eventually, was not backed by them when I had it).

So apparently, this $245 debt eventually became a judgement...except I was never notified. The records indicate they sent the letters to an address that I haven't lived at for over 10 years...so I was long gone when they tried to contact me about 8 years ago.

Obviously, this thing is not on my credit report, as it aged off quite some time ago. But in Ohio, you have 15 years to attempt to collect(this varies by state). So now this judgement/debt was sold to a new collections agency who has tracked me down.

I have no issues paying the debt...I didn't know it existed. But I have two concerns. One, they've inflated it to like $1700 and are offering a buyout of $750. That's a bit absurd. Second, some of my friends are suggesting that if I do pay this off, it could re-appear on my credit report. That's the part that concerns me.

Does anyone know if you pay off a judgement/debt that had already dropped off your credit report, can the payment cause it to reappear? I just ran my credit report to verify it is NOT there right now. I have two dings only(one from 6.5years ago about to drop and one from 5 years ago, but is very minor). This one isn't there. I actually don't ever remember seeing this one since I started tracking this stuff more religiously about 5 years ago.

If I negotiate them down to a reasonable amount and just pay it off...will my credit get the ding? Or do I have to somehow try to fight the judgement on the grounds that this case from years ago, never properly notified me so I could defend myself? Do I even want to do that?

If you make *any* attempt to pay any of the bill, the SOL resets and it could reappear on your credit report. With debt that old, I usually tell people to just avoid it. If you're tired of dealing with the collection agency, you can write them a letter demanding that they stop and they are required by law to stop. At that point the only thing they can do is decide to sue you or not, which in your case I am 99% sure they cannot due to the SOL. Simply being contacted does not reset the SOL....only making an attempt to pay it does. This would be reflected on your credit report under something like Most Recent Activity, etc.

With something that old there is a very good chance that they don't have the legal documentation required to collect the debt. You send them a letter by certified mail with return receipt requesting that they validate the debt, wait 30 days, and if they haven't responded then you don't owe them the money.

CN: Tell them to remove your number from their list, and never call you again.

Once notified to cease collection attempts, keep records of when (time of day), and how often they call again. There is an anti-harassment law that will fine them/award you $1500 for the initial judgement of violation, and every call after if they continue.

In addition to tacking on outrageous fees, they are attempting to collect on a debt that has long since been closed/settled/written off by the original company.

yes the moral of today is:
Don't pay people the money you owe them, especially if it takes them a while to find you. The nerve of the dirty scoundrels, didn't they watch the Seinfeld episode about "Jerry, its written off".

yes the moral of today is:
Don't pay people the money you owe them, especially if it takes them a while to find you. The nerve of the dirty scoundrels, didn't they watch the Seinfeld episode about "Jerry, its written off".

No one owes a collection agency ****. The original owner of the debt forgave it long before some douchey collection agency comes after you.

No one owes a collection agency ****. The original owner of the debt forgave it long before some douchey collection agency comes after you.

Not quite true. Usually the debtor sells the debt to the agency for pennies on the dollar, then writes off the remainder as a loss. The collector can now attempt to recover the full amount, since they now own the full debt amount, and make money on the deal for their effort of tracking you down.

However, as far as fees and **** running up the total... unless those fees/penalties were agreed upon in the initial transaction that created the debt, then I don't think the collector can make up their own fees and run up the charges.

My guess is the big number is fabricated in an effort to make the actual number sound like a deal. Personally, on something like this, a) I wouldn't pay them anything because the SoL's have probably expired, and b) if I did pay them, it wouldn't be for a penny more than the original amount owed.

Spend money you don't have, then neglect to pay debts off by having a bad credit rating for a couple years while avoiding answering bill-collection agencies calls. Then rinse and repeat.

wow, <insert derogatory term for dumb people who abuse the credit system> really are winners. Your grandparents would kick you in the balls for not owning up to what you owe. Society is going to hell (since the day they gave everyone credit cards).